Latest Updates
Jan. 21 | Hearing in the Senate Education Committee
HSLDA Staff Attorney Amy Buchmeyer testified at the hearing in support of S.B. 338. You can watch her testimony here. The bill is being held in the Senate Education Committee until further notice.
Jan. 16 | Assigned to the Senate Education Committee
S.B. 338 was introduced by Senator Renee Erickson on January 15, 2026. It has been assigned to the Senate Education Committee for a hearing on January 21, 2026.
Summary of S.B. 338
Recently the legislature placed the term “home school” into Kansas statutes twice. Kan. Stat. § 72-7121 allows “home school” students to participate in public school sports. Kan. Stat. § 74-32,423 allows “home school” students to participate in the career technical workforce grant program. But the legislature did not define “home school.”
It’s likely that a dispute involving one of these statutes will arise at some point and a judge will need a definition of “home school” to resolve it. If the legislature has not defined it by then, it is likely that the judge will come up with a definition that he or she thinks best. Such a judge-made definition may conflict with what has been known and accepted in Kansas for decades. A judge-made definition could be a disaster for homeschool freedom.
To protect our freedom and prevent a judge-made definition from being imposed on us, we need the legislature to enact a good, clear, freedom-friendly definition. It is commonly accepted—and the Department of Education agrees—that a homeschool is a non-accredited private school.
But right now, there is no law in Kansas, and no court precedent in Kansas, that says a homeschool is a non-accredited private school. This leaves the door open for a judge-made definition to be imposed on us.
S.B. 338 protects homeschooling families from the tremendous disruption a judge-made definition could cause. It confirms what has been recognized in practice for decades and provides a solid legal foundation for the future.